[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of West Windsor 8-16-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-21. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Public emergencies — See Ch. 9.
Cable television franchise — See Ch. 59.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
Programming on the West Windsor government and education channel ("the channel") shall be the sole responsibility of the Township of West Windsor, at the direction of the Township Council and Administration and by recommendation of the Cable TV Advisory Board. The channel shall operate in accordance with applicable provisions of the State Cable Television Act[1] and the Federal Telecommunications Act. The relationship between the municipality and the school district relating to the operation of the channel shall be in accordance with any shared services agreement in effect.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 48:5A-1 et seq.
The objectives of this chapter are to:
A. 
Provide unedited content of cablecasts of Township Council meetings and other municipal public meetings, as designated.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
B. 
Provide comprehensive information about programs and services offered to West Windsor residents by municipal departments.
C. 
Provide information pertinent to West Windsor residents from other local, state, and federal governmental entities.
D. 
Widen the dissemination of information on the activities of the municipal government advisory bodies of the Township.
E. 
Provide emergency communications in the event of disaster or widespread service disruption.
F. 
Provide and distribute programming of interest to the residents, which will inform, educate and enlighten, as well as encourage participation in government services, activities and decision making.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
The channel shall operate on all cable service providers offering service in the Township pursuant to a franchise authorized pursuant to the provisions of the State Cable Television Act.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 48:5A-1 et seq.
The types of programs shall be as follows:
A. 
Live cablecast. Live coverage of designated meetings and events may be provided.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
B. 
Taped-delayed cablecast. Taped meetings, shows and events videotaped in advance for cablecast at a later time. Some events will be cablecast live and will also be taped for later playback.
C. 
Staff-originated programming: approved programming produced by the municipality, to include programs for local departments, issues related to municipal government or about groups, committees, boards, etc., that are affiliated with government.
D. 
Outside-originated programming: approved programming that is related to government that is produced by an outside source. This programming may be donated, purchased, rented or borrowed for cablecast.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
E. 
Bulletin-board information: messages related to municipal activities, programs, services and events sponsored in whole or in part by West Windsor or another governmental unit affecting its residents.
F. 
Emergency broadcasts, as needed.
[Added 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
G. 
Promotions. Promotional announcements for Township-sponsored events, programs and activities will be permitted. Promotional announcements for events, charities or outside organizations shall only be permitted when the event is being held in the Township.
[Added 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
H. 
Programming restrictions are as follows:
[Added 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
(1) 
No obscene or salacious material.
(2) 
No material which violates federal, state or local law.
(3) 
A lottery as defined by the Federal Communications Commission regulations or any advertisement of or information concerning a lottery.
I. 
Political programming.
[Added 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01; amended 12-9-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-14]
The channel is not intended as a mechanism to promote any particular issue or candidate for public office. However, this provision will not preclude the channel from cablecasting nonpartisan programs sponsored by mutual third parties designed to inform and educate the citizens of election issues and candidates. An example of what is permitted are debates sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
A. 
All programming requests will be reviewed by the Cable TV Advisory Board, which shall make its recommendation to the Administration.
B. 
A weekly log will be kept to record all programming.
C. 
The channel is not to be utilized for announcements from the general public. Access to the channel shall be limited to municipal, governmental or quasi-governmental functions and operations. Utilization of the channel for personal gain is not permitted. The channel is not a public access channel.
Following is a general list of programming priorities, in order of priority. The priorities may be altered on a case-by-case basis by the Cable TV Advisory Board.
A. 
Emergency override communication by the Mayor or designee takes priority over all broadcasts.
B. 
Programming of or about meetings of policymaking bodies such as the Township Council, Etc.
C. 
Programming of various departments and their services.
D. 
Programming of county, state, federal government and/or Township boards, commissions and authorities and/or agencies that use public dollars.
E. 
Approved programming produced by the Township or outside sources that is relevant to local government or interests of the community at large, or identifiable segments thereof.
F. 
Video bulletin board.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
Management of the government access channel shall be by the station manager, under the direction of the Administration.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 60-8, Political programming, § 60-9, Editing policy, § 60-10, Endorsements, § 60-11, Promotions, and § 60-12, Programming restrictions, which immediately followed, were repealed 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01. This ordinance also renumbered former §§ 60-13 through 60-15 as §§ 60-8 through 60-10, respectively.
Township-owned video equipment shall be restricted to municipal activities, and its uses shall be restricted to trained personnel. Loaning of equipment for personal or outside use shall not be permitted.
A. 
The original tape of each public meeting may be maintained by the channel for production purposes.
B. 
Both master tapes and copies will be copyrighted in the name of the Township of West Windsor.
C. 
Videotapes shall not be considered an official record of any meeting and there shall be no liability for inadvertent erasure or omissions.
D. 
Retention period. It is the general policy to retain public meeting tapes for a minimum of two months.[1]
[Amended 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 60-16, Government Channel Committee, and § 60-17, Consistency with interlocal agreements, which immediately followed, were repealed 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01.